Other medical specialties represented in pain management are: anesthesiology, neurosurgery
and internal medicine. Your doctor may also refer you for services from occupational
medicine specialists, social workers or complementary medicine practitioners.

How Does Pain Management Treat Pain?

While some types of pain are caused by things like headaches, and other types of
pain are caused by things like surgery, the field of pain management treats all
of it as a disease. This allows for the application of science, and the latest advances
in medicine to relieve your pain. And while many patients, especially those in chronic
pain, see a psychiatrist or therapist as part of the experience, learning to cope
with pain is less and less the focus of pain management treatment.

The goal of pain management is to minimize pain, improve function and increase your
quality of life.

Are There Different Kinds of Pain?

In pain management, there are two types of pain: Acute pain and
chronic pain.

Acute pain may begin suddenly and is often described as feeling
sharp. It is likened to the body's warning system signaling something is wrong.
Even with pain management acute pain may last 3 to 6 months. Patterns of recovery
from acute pain are usually predictable and aid in developing a treatment plan.
Pain specialists realize it is important to control acute pain to prevent it from
becoming chronic.

Causes of acute pain include:

Broken bones (spinal vertebral fracture)

Burns or cuts

Certain diseases

Dental work

Labor and childbirth

Soft tissue injury, such as whiplash

Surgical pain (post-operative pain)

Chronic pain, in pain management, is defined as lasting longer
than 6 months, is persistent and may be severe. Chronic pain is more difficult to
treat. A multidisciplinary approach, involving several specialists who offer treatment
separately or simultaneously, has become a standard of care. Such specialists include
physiatrists and anesthesiologists.

Chronic pain affects you physically and emotionally. Physical symptoms include muscle
tension, loss of mobility, lack of energy and appetite. The emotional affects can
be similarly devastating and include depression, anger and anxiety.

Soft tissue injury, such as trauma from a fall or motor vehicle accident

Unresolved disease or injury (psychogenic pain)

There are many other kinds of pain that can be described as acute or chronic in
pain management. Some of these types of pain are:

Myofascial pain is caused by painful trigger points that develop
in a muscle or a group of muscles. A trigger point is a locally sensitive and tender
area in a muscle or where a muscle and fascia (band-like tissue encasing muscle)
meet. Myofascial pain may cause 'referred pain' because when a trigger point is
pressed the pain may be felt elsewhere. This pain may be chronic and described as
nagging, burning, aching or stabbing.

Psychogenic pain is real physical pain caused by a psychological
problem. This means the pain is caused by the patient's mental or emotional issues.

Radicular pain, or radiculitis, is caused by inflammation of a
spinal nerve root. Other associated terms are 'cervical radiculitis' or 'lumbar
radiculitis' meaning the pain originates from a cervical (neck) or lumbar (low back)
spinal nerve. Sciatica is a commonly used term to describe pain that descends into
the leg. Different disorders can cause spinal nerve compression, inflammation and
pain. A spinal tumor or cyst, disc herniation, spinal stenosis and osteoarthritis
can cause radiculitis.

Somatic pain is caused by bodily injury or other event affecting
the pain receptors in the skin, ligaments, muscles, bones, or joints. This pain
may be chronic and is sometimes associated with cancer.